At Midnight
by 2ilyrose
Summary: Ron has feelings for Hermione, she doesn't know about it. Hermione is having a New Year's party and Ron is stuck at the Burrow. Will he get a chance to tell her how he feels, or maybe show her. Read and Review please. Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter
1. The Invitation

Home for the holidays, Ron stood in the doorway of his old room at the Burrow. Looking around, the walls still orange, a bed over in the corner, and a desk by the window with a small assortment of books and papers. One paper in particular, lay open with neatly printed words, it read:

_You're invited to my New Year's Eve party. _

_It's a costume party so be sure to let me _

_know what you're coming as in your R.S.V.P. _

_The party starts at 10:30pm Saturday night. _

_Please R.S.V.P. as soon as you can. _

_Hope to see you there._

_Hermione_

Ron had read and re-read the invitation so many times he had it memorized. And though he kept the invitation, his R.S.V.P. however was crumpled up in the rubbish bin. He wanted to go to the party, but it was always a Weasley tradition to spend Christmas and New Year's at the Burrow.

Ron walked slowly over to his bed and fell onto it lazily.

Hermione walked around the party store picking up supplies. Streamers, noise makers, party hats, confetti, and anything else that looked interesting. She went over in her head how much everything would cost and set off for the register.

Once she was back at her flat, she took all the things for the party and set it in a spare room until it was time for the party.

Ron sat up in his bed as he heard a knock on the door downstairs. Ron heard the door open and his mother's voice greeting the visitor.

"Oh, hello Harry. How lovely of you to drop by. Come on in dear, Ron is upstairs."

"Thanks."

The floor boards creaked as Harry came up the steps. Harry appeared in Ron's doorway.

"Hey Harry." Ron said as he swung his legs around the side of his bed.

"Hey Ron, are you going to Hermione's party?"

"No." Ron answered while looking down at his hands.

"What do you mean, 'No'?" Harry asked, "I thought you of all people would be the first to want to-"

"Of course I _want_ to go Harry." Ron interrupted.

Harry looked confused, "Than what's keeping you from going?"

Ron sighed, "The 'Weasley Tradition'."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, _that_, I really thought that for New Year's I could, maybe, finally- you know."

"_Tell_ her? You're serious?"

"Yeah, I mean what better time than New Year's right? But now I've got this family thing and it-it's just not gonna happen."

"Sorry mate."

"It's fine, I mean its just as well right? I could never tell her how I feel."


	2. The Party

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter yadda yadda yadda you know the drill.

A/N: I give you the awaited chapter 2.

With just a couple hours before the start of the party, Hermione was magically filling balloons with air and charming confetti to float at the ceiling, only to come down when the clock strikes midnight.

Back at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley was making little finger sandwiches and putting out cups and plates, while Ron sat on the back porch watching his brothers and sister play a last game of Quidditch.

Only a half hour now until the party and Hermione was charming all the furniture in sight to move it out of the way for the party. She took any of the glass and breakable items and tucked them away in a safe place.

All the Weasley kids finished their game and came back inside. They all sat in the living room, all except one that is. One lonely redhead sat at the bottom of the stairs with his elbows resting on his knees, and his face in his hands.

The doorbell rang, and the guests started arriving. The music was turned up and food and drinks were served; floating around the room on levitating platters. An hour passed and everyone seemed to be having a good time, except, "Hermione?" Harry walked up to Hermione who was sitting in a chair off in the corner watching her party commence from a distance.

"Hey Harry." Hermione said a bit gloomily.

"Is there something wrong?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked up and cracked a smile when she saw what Harry was dressed up as.

"Hey, What are you laughing at me for?"

"I'm sorry, but couldn't you find anything else?" Hermione asked, looking him up and down.

Harry gave a smirk, "Hey, it was this or nothing." Harry was wearing his old school robes; Gryffindor cloak, tie and all.

"They're a bit small now, isn't it tight?" Hermione asked while standing up.

"I wouldn't be the one to talk about tight if I were you." Harry said as he took Hermione's hand and twirled her around. She was wearing a noticeably tight cat women suit, ears and tail included.

"Hey give me a break, I was so busy planning the party, this was the best they had at the costume shop."

"Well, all fashion disasters aside, come dance, you should at least enjoy your own party."

Hermione just rolled her eyes, but let Harry lead her to the middle of a group of a very oddly dressed bunch of people.

Fred and George walked around the stairs and found Ron. They sat on either side of Ron, and Fred asked, "So what's your problem now?"

Ron looked up with a blank stare on his face.

"It's Hermione isn't it?" George asked.

"Ooh, I know, she's having that party isn't she-" Fred said.

"- ah, and you want to go-" George continued.

"- but you can't-"

"- because you're stuck here-"

"- with us." Fred finished.

Ron sighed, "You know I hate it when you do that?"

"We know." The twins said in unison.

"So if you want to go, then what are you doing sitting here for?" Fred asked.

"I can't leave, we all always stay here."

"So?" George chimed in.

"So, it's tradition."

"Rubbish." George said.

"You're going to that party." Fred said as he stood up.

"What!"

"Listen, you like Hermione don't you?" Fred asked.

"Well, yeah."

"And you want her to know right?" George asked.

"Of course."

"Then get up off your arse and do something about it!" Said a new voice.

"Ginny! Where did you come from?" Ron asked, surprised at how quietly she could sneak into a room.

"Honestly Ron!" Ginny said and came over to stand in front of Ron, "What do you think Hermione is doing right now?"

"Having a party?"

Ginny heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes, "She's thinking about you! Okay, think about it, what's gonna happen when it comes time for the countdown?"

The twins started a muffled countdown in the background as Ginny spoke.

"10-"

"-9-"

"-8-"

"People are all counting down watching the clock-"

"-7-"

"-6-"

"Everyone is paring off-"

"-5-"

"-4-"

"You've got to kiss someone at midnight-"

"-3-"

"She looks around: who's she gonna kiss?-"

"-2-"

"-1-" Ginny finished the countdown, and looked at Ron with a knowing look.

Ron's eye widened as realization hit.

"I've got to go to that party!"

"That's the spirit!" George yelled.

"But how am I supposed to make it in time, it's already three minutes 'til midnight."

"Aw, and we lost the spirit." Fred added.

Ginny thought for a moment then got an idea, "Take my broom."

"What?"

"It's faster than all the other one's we've got, just take it and go, we'll cover for you." Ginny gave her brother a smile.

"Thanks Gin." Ron said as he headed for the back door.

"You're gonna owe us big time for this!" Fred yelled after Ron.

"Oh shut up!" Ginny yelled as she smacked Fred hard on the arm.

Ron got outside, grabbed Ginny's broom and set off into the night.

A/N: In case you were wondering, I did get the countdown thing from The O.C. Hope you liked the chapter, read and review!


	3. The Countdown

**A/N: **Sooo sorry it took me so long to update, here's chapter three!

**Disclaimer: **I do not _sniff_ own any of the Harry Potter characters.

At the party Hermione was finally enjoying herself, she was dancing in a group of old friends from Hogwarts. There was Lavender, Parvati, Dean, Seamus, even Neville was there. But Hermione couldn't help but notice the friend that was missing . . .

The cold air was brisk in the night as the breeze whipped through Ron's red hair. He held out his wrist in front of his face and checked his watch, two minutes till midnight, he had to go faster.

Hermione decided to take a break from dancing. She went into the kitchen to refill some of the drinks when Harry joined her.

"Hermione?" Harry called to her. She turned around to face him. "What's wrong?"

She gave him a false smile and turned back to the counter, "Nothing's wrong Harry, what ever would make you think something was wrong?" Harry could see right through her little act, he didn't need to ask what was wrong, he already knew.

"Hermione, you don't have to pretend, I know you wish Ron were here." Harry said.

"What? I don't- I mean, I barely noticed he wasn't here." She replied, trying to busy herself with the already full drinks.

Harry sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get her to admit what she was feeling, "Come on, everyone is having a great time, you should be too." He grabbed her by the hand and lead her back out into the living room.

"Come on, come on you bloody broomstick!" Ron yelled. He looked at his watch again, he had less than a minute. He flew lower, searching for the familiar street where Hermione lived. But then saw there were a lot of familiar streets.

"Damn England! Damn all of it! Why do all the streets have to look all the bloody same?" Now, as if things couldn't get any worse, it started to rain. Ron frowned, "Brilliant, just bloody BRILLIANT!" He was tired, lost, cold, and to top it all off, he was wet, and getting even more wet by the second.

Now, just over twenty seconds till midnight, music started floating through the room. It was a muggle song: You and Me, by a band called Lifehouse. People were pairing off for the last dance of the year. Hermione stood there in the middle of the room looking around at everyone, they all seemed so happy. _And why wouldn't they be? _Hermione thought to herself, _They've all got someone to share the New Year with._

Ten seconds, everyone started to chant.

"TEN!"

"NINE!"

"EIGHT!"

"SEVEN!"

"SIX!"

"FIVE!"

Hermione looked around once more, even Harry had found someone.

"FOUR!"

"THREE!"

Hermione sighed as a silent tear managed it's way down the side of her cheek.

"TWO!"

Suddenly, Hermione felt a hand on her arm from behind her, she turned around to face a soaked Ron.

"One." He whispered, as Hermione smiled, he placed his cold hand on her cheek and tilted her chin up and leaned down to capture her lips with a kiss, a which moment, the confetti began to fall.

**A/N: **I think this might be the last chapter, but as always, review and let me know what you think.


	4. The 'After Party'

**A/N: **Okay, now for a while I really thought three chapters and that would be it for this story. But recently I was looking through the reviews for all my stories to see where I should update next. Guess which story I chose. Yup, but mostly I'm continuing with this story because of one of my reviewers, so **lifeisawsome89**, if you're reading this (which I hope you are) this is for you because you told me to continue no matter what anyone else said and to just do it, so I just did it! My apologies for the long author note, had to get it all said.

**Disclaimer: **I would think I don't have to say this anymore, but for those select few that are a little slow, I - do - not - own - Harry - Potter!

**The 'After Party'**

It seemed as if the kiss lasted forever, but neither Ron nor Hermione seemed to mind. The confetti had stopped falling long ago. The music had died down as they finally broke apart. Ron looked around as he held Hermione in his arms, everyone was staring at them. Then, from somewhere in the crowd, there came a voice, "About time!" (it sounded oddly like a certain friend they knew) the voice was followed by applauding, cat calls, wolf whistles and anything else you can think of.

Ron scratched his head in embarrassment, considering it was his action that led to all the attention. Hermione just looked up at him and smiled. Ron smiled back and brushed some confetti out of Hermione's hair.

"You want to take a walk?" Hermione asked.

"Sure." Ron replied as he took her hand and escorted her outside.

It had stopped raining, and everything was covered in a light mist that made the outdoors shimmer in the glow of night.

They walked for a while in silence, just thinking of what had happened, not a moment ago. They lead each other away from the street lights, onto a foot path. The path lead to a single bench that looked over a pond. Hermione noted how beautiful the pond looked at night. Compared to the daytime when you could see green moss around the edges, now you could see the reflection of the moon in the water and the stars seemed to glaze the surface, it seemed so magical, even in a muggle neighborhood.

Ron sat down with Hermione on the bench, they didn't look directly at each other at first. Ron looked down at his feet while Hermione continued to look out at the pond. The Ron turned towards Hermione, she looked in his eyes, so clear and blue.

Ron slowly leaned down to her, their lips met again. This time, knowing that no one would interrupt them, the kiss got deeper and more intense. One of Ron's hands went around to the back of Hermione's head. Her hands found their way to his shoulders, his shirt was still damp from the rain. Hermione could feel goose bumps on the back of his neck, she pulled away slightly to ask, "Are you cold?" Ron kissed her neck, between kisses managing, "How could I be cold when I'm with you?"

Ron tried to run his fingers through her hair, but then found something soft that wasn't her hair. He looked up, it was the cat ears, Hermione was still wearing her costume. He gently took them off her head. They both laughed quietly as Ron gave the rest of Hermione's costume a glance.

"You knew about my secret love of cats didn't you?" Ron asked.

"Ever since my little 'accident' with the Polyjuice potion in our second year, you smiled just a little too wide." Hermione laughed, Ron's ears turned even more red then they were before with just the cold.

Ron looked back at her and sighed, "Hermione, I love you so much." Now it was Hermione who was blushing. Ron continued, "To be honest, I-I almost didn't come at all."

"Well I'm glad you did, if I may ask, in the end, what finally made you come?"

"Do you really want to know?" Ron asked her.

Hermione just nodded.

Ron took Hermione's hands in his and looked into her eyes for a moment, not saying a word, just looking at her. Then he spoke, "Hermione," and without warning, Ron gently slid off the bench and onto the ground on one knee, despite the wet grass that was beginning to seep its way through his jeans.

Hermione's heart began to race, what this really happening? No, it couldn't be, he must have dropped something and was just down there looking for an item of some sort. This was Ron, like some of his brothers, he didn't have a serious bone in his body.

"Hermione, I love you, with every ounce of my heart. I've probably loved you for an even longer time than I think I could have ever even realized. I was told that true love was how you felt when someone's mouth explodes just because of a candy you made, well, that's what Fred and George said." They shared a laugh. "But most of all, it's what you feel deep inside, when a special person walks by or looks at you. Or when that person touches you, even if its just a brush of the fingers, the feeling you have inside is just so amazing, that's how you want to stay the rest of your life. And Hermione, you're that special person, you're _my_ special person. So, if you'll have me..." He slowly pulled out a little black velvet box from his pocket. "Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?" He opened the box and held it out.

Overwhelming tears came down Hermione's face as she covered her mouth with her hand, "Yes" she said quietly.

Ron's eyebrows lifted, "Yes?" he asked uncertain.

"YES!" He placed the ring on her finger. As she stood up she flung her arms around his neck, he lifted her in the air and twirled her around.

Just then there were dozens of cracks all around them as everyone from the party, and even the Weasley's surrounded them in a circle. Once again, people were clapping, Hermione looked around and saw Mrs. Weasley with a huge grin on her face. Ron and Hermione kissed again as everyone else looked on.

**A/N: **Alright, I really think this is gonna be the LAST chapter this time, but I'll hold off setting it as complete for a little while just in case. Please review, thanks for reading!

Enchantress-dcm


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